


Now That I See You

by OfMonstersAndWerewolves



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Curious Archer anniversary, F/F, First Kiss, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Inspired by Tangled (2010), Mental Health Issues, Minor Deaf Character, Mostly Fluff, Pre-Curse, Trauma, both relating to Alice with Gothel, particularly the I See The Light scene, reference to Gothel and the impact her actions have had on Alice, though this is very brief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-17 20:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16980993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfMonstersAndWerewolves/pseuds/OfMonstersAndWerewolves
Summary: Every year, the little village, nestled as it was in the Kingdom of Corona, would release lanterns into the night sky in annual celebration. Alice has been once before, but this time she's brought Robin along with her... and both of them are currently trying to deal with their feelings for the other.





	Now That I See You

**Author's Note:**

> So it's been a full year since The Eighth Witch, which means it's Curious Archer's canon anniversary! Thought it might be fitting to upload my newest fanfic now in celebration.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It seemed everything was currently being sold in this village market. Books. Parchment and ink. Fabrics of all shapes and sizes. Dresses. Fruit and vegetables. Fish. Meat. Various tools and equipment. Stalls were lined up along the market square, full to the brim with goods, the smell of freshly baked bread and spices of all different types spreading all throughout the market. And, as Alice and Robin walked through, both noticed that every few feet or so there were people creating lanterns, some further along in the process than others. Each seemed to have their own personal touch; a dash of colour here, a ribbon or two there. 

It was at times like these that left Robin with a feeling of awe. It wasn’t a surprise to her; she’d lived in Storybrooke for 18 years of her life after all. But although she’d grown up aware of other worlds, merely hearing about the different realms and their stories was very different to living them. To seeing them. To listen to the bustle of their streets or the rhythms of their music. To smell the damp earth of the forests around her. To know them truly, you needed to experience them. Not that Alice hadn’t influenced her in the slightest with that, of course, since they’d met. 

She glanced over at her now. Since their first meeting, she’d come to appreciate this realm for what it had, in a way she hadn’t really done before, at least not to the extent she did now. Still, it was quite odd knowing that there were people in The Land Without Magic who were blissfully unaware many of the stories they told actually existed in some form or another, warped and misconstrued perhaps in their telling’s, but certainly real. Sometimes it was all too easy to feel a little smug about it.

“Sooo? Anything taken your fancy?”, Alice asked, interrupting Robin’s train of thought.

“We’ve only just got here”. They’d arrived in the village that morning, their last stop on their week long outing in the Kingdom of Corona. The village apparently had an annual celebration of some kind and Alice had been so ecstatic when she reminisced about seeing the lights on her first visit, that Robin had suggested it as something they could do. 

“So these lanterns? They’re releasing them tonight?”

“Yeah. Oh Robin, it's so beautiful!”, she sighed as she gripped Robin’s arm in excitement. She briefly lifted her head back, eyes closed as though recalling the memory in her mind. “It’ll be nice to be able to see them from inside the town this time” 

“How come you didn’t last time?”

Alice’s face contorted with playful guilt, the gleam of impish glee still present in her eyes. “I might… have gotten slightly involved with some business… with some… former criminals that might have caught the attention of the king’s men.”

“Are you telling me you brought us to a town where you got in trouble with the king’s men and you didn’t think to tell me this?” 

“Nah, it’s fine. Really!”, she countered, probably upon seeing the expression of doubt Robin had just plastered across her face. “I sorted it out after seeing the lanterns.” She waved her hand in an attempt to dismiss Robin’s worries away.

“Really?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine, I talked to the horse about it”

Once it had registered, Robin did a double take whilst in the process of nodding and stopped in her tracks as Alice carried on ahead.

“You talked to the-?” she whispered to herself, “Alice!”

Her feet drove her forward again, at a quicker pace, to catch up with the enigmatic blonde, narrowly avoiding careening into a merchant as she did so.

“If we get arrested again, I’m blaming you”

* * *

As the minutes crept by, their conversations leapt from topic to topic. What with some business or other involving Henry and the rest of her family, Robin hadn’t had chance to hang out with Alice for a while. At her arrival back at Alice’s cottage on the day of her return, she’d been practically knocked over in excitement followed by a telling off for being away for so long. That’s when she’d suggested they both go off for a week somewhere together, and, after much backwards and forwards and an argument or two later, they’d finally settled on Corona. She imagined when she got back they’d probably need her to help again, so she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Alice.

“So, what are you thinking so far?” came Alice’s voice from beside her.

“I’m liking it. I think my… my dad would have felt at home here. From what I’ve heard.” A hand fell on her back, a soothing gesture to comfort her. 

She composed herself before carrying on. “Anyway, it’s a bit of a change of pace. With a family like mine, you do get tired of the same stories of kings and queens. The noblest of nobilities,” she remarked, her voice an exaggerated mimic of some conceited noblewoman. A mock bow accompanied it. Alice’s giggles seemed to momentarily set her heart aflutter.

The corners of Robin’s mouth curved slowly up into a smile, her gaze falling on the blonde locks of her friend, wild as ever. They continued on, passing stall holders selling their wares and sneaking glances at each other when they weren’t looking. A smile crept on Alice’s face, one of sweetness but with a hint of mischief. Robin could feel her cheeks reddening, though thankfully it seemed Alice had gone back to perusing the objects on nearby stands to have noticed. She was quite glad Alice seemed a little oblivious to these things ‘cause otherwise she didn’t think she was being particularly subtle about the whole ‘having feelings for her’ thing.

They crawled to a standstill as the path ahead became narrower and crowded, before it meandered out of the alley, diverging down several other paths. As they waited, their eyes met in a brief moment and Robin saw the blue tinge of Alice’s irises, her gaze reflecting back into her own. She saw the way she revelled in the wonderful and bonkers way she saw the world - the worlds – that had so easily rubbed off on herself, staring back through those eyes. The girl she had met, who had changed her life in an instant. The girl she was falling head over heels for. She **had** fallen for. 

They continued on. After a while of wandering round the market, of trying on several cloaks (“Ooh, look Nobin! I look as dramatic as you with this one”) and watching some musical street performances, Alice’s stomach began to growl.

“What you fancy? That pie stall back there next to the tailors had some interesting sounding-?”

“Marmalade sandwich!” Alice insisted, eyes widening with glee. “Wait, no... um... don’t really want pie, but… ooh, pastries.”

“Sure?”

Alice nodded. “Mushroom, please,” she told her, patting Robin’s shoulder as she made to wander off from her.

“Hey, where are you going?!”

But Alice had already slipped past the final stall along the wall of the garden they had found themselves in. The absolute cheek! She readjusted her cloak, watching the space where the blonde had left from, shook her head and wandered off, trying to remember the stall she needed to find.

* * *

Robin paid the food merchant and thanked him as she took a bite from one of the pastries she’d just bought for her and Alice. She made to walk away back through into the main part of the market to find her friend when something in the corner of her eye made her stop in her tracks. A small boat, something like a canoe or rowboat, was situated alone beside the edge of the lake, towed to the end of a short wooden pier. She looked out over the water and an idea formed in her head and, as she stood there, the woman manning the stall to the left of her looked up as she suddenly became aware of the young woman standing to the side of her. A small boy stepped out from behind the stall into Robin’s line of sight, startling her back to the here and now.

“Are you looking at our boat?” he asked eagerly as he stared at Robin, who stuttered in an attempt to provide an answer. But before anything of substance was able to form from her mouth however the young boy started to ramble off.

“You can borrow it ‘cause we rent it out. It looks a bit old but it’s really good actually, there’s no way it’d break…” He continued to trail off, until he caught his mother’s eye and seemingly remembered in that moment that he probably should have been sticking to a script of some sort of everything he needed to say and so he started to recite what his mother had told him to tell any potential customers. 

Once he’d finished, he motioned some hand gestures to his mother who gestured back, and Robin assumed it must have been some sort of sign language they’d created. Or maybe it was ubiquitous to this realm? She made a mental note to ask Alice as the young boy turned back to face Robin.

“Yeah, I’m interested. Is there room enough for two?” she asked inquisitively as she pocketed the pastries.

“Oh yeah, plenty of room!”

After a few more minutes of conversation, Robin agreed to rent out the boat for that night and gave some money to the boy, who got an affectionate ruffle of his hair on a job well done from his mother. A proud smile spread across his face. 

“Do you know anywhere I could buy a couple of lanterns?” inquired Robin.

“Why don’t you make them? It’s really easy. I could show you!”. Before either his mother or Robin could object, he produced some material from under the stall, beside his own makeshift lantern, and spread it out on the ground in front of him, motioning for Robin to sit down. 

About 20 minutes later, Robin had successfully managed to create two lanterns which she proceeded to deposit behind the stall for safe keeping, ready for that night. Both were a bit lopsided, but they’d both do the job nonetheless. And maybe, just maybe, if she could pluck up the courage, she could tell Alice about how she felt about her. 

“Thanks for the help,” she said, producing a large gold coin from out of her pocket and offering it to the young boy, who stared at it in disbelief, before grabbing it out of her hands.

“I can get the paint I wanted.” He thanked her as Robin turned around and headed off to find Alice, her thoughts racing.

* * *

She turned a corner and found herself in the middle of a small, somewhat secluded square, a circular fountain at its centre, with at least two or so dozen people, primarily children, making artwork on the stone floor around it. Houses, various figures and all manner of strange and wonderful creatures littered every available surface. And there, in amongst the other artists, was Alice, kneeling down on the cobbles with her hands, as well as a substantial portion of her arms, neck and face, covered in paint. Robin was so astounded by the level of detail on the landscape Alice had been painting that the question of how she’d managed to get paint half way up her forehead left her mind almost as soon as it had appeared.

Wow, she thought. “That’s amazing”, she whispered aloud, snapping Alice out of the focus she had currently been giving to her artwork. “Oh, sorry ‘bout that.” Holding the remaining pastry in one hand, she offered her hand to Alice, who took it enthusiastically and proudly beamed at her as she stood up.

“You really think so?” she asked, tilting her head at the piece of art in front of her, “I think that tree’s a bit wonky but…”

“It’s great”

She looked at the pastry in Robin’s hand with gleeful longing, then looked down at her own hands, currently caked in paint and dust. “Hmm,” she huffed.

“Come on, we’ll head back to the inn and get you cleaned up…” 

As they made their way out of the square, dancing around the countless street artists and their designs so as not to smudge anything, a small figure dashed into the street, hands full of paint and brushes and the like, Alice and Robin having to swerve out of the way to avoid a collision. He turned back when he realised who he’d nearly run into and apologised profusely. 

“Sorry, Miss Robin! Oh, mother forgot to tell me to tell you that she doesn’t want you to be late” He ran off.

Alice, confused, lifted her finger up to point in the direction of the young boy and swivelled her head round so it was directed towards Robin.

“Wait… what did he mean?” Robin shook her head slowly in mock naivety.

“No idea” Robin replied, her smug fuelled response dripping with feigned innocence. She knew Alice would know she was teasing her. What she didn’t expect to happen, but probably should have done, was Alice lifting her hand up and tapping it on Robin’s forehead, leaving a splodge of paint just below her hairline. “Wh-!” Robin’s mouth hung open. She leaned in closer to Alice. “It’s for me to know,” she cooed with a sly smile “and you to find out” She turned to walk off in the direction of the inn, leaving Alice having to skip back towards her to catch up.

* * *

The shutters swung slightly in the light breeze of that day’s golden afternoon. Alice was currently sat on the end of one of the beds, Robin behind her dabbing a wet cloth through her hair in an effort to get rid of the paint she’d managed to get there. She was quite glad Robin had to be behind her to do so, as by the way the butterflies in her stomach seemed to be having a celebration at being in such close proximity to the archer, she was sure her cheeks must have turned some vibrant shade of red. 

“I think that’s the last of it” Robin dropped the cloth beside her and Alice felt the presence of her fingers against the back of her neck fade away as they were dropped into the archer’s lap. Swinging her legs up, Alice fell back onto the bed. Robin did the same, though a little less dramatically, and leaned on her side beside her, her head resting on her fist.

In that moment, in that quiet precious moment, an almost overwhelming desire to tell Robin about her growing feelings towards her rushed through her. Yet no words left her mouth. She wanted to tell her, needed to tell her, but… what if she didn’t feel the same way back? Would it push her away? She couldn’t risk losing one of her closest and only friends. It was a good job at least Robin didn’t seem to have picked up on her signs, or at least wasn’t aware they were down to her feelings about her.

“Hang on, couldn’t you have just used your magic to get rid of the paint?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never tried before. There’s a lot I don’t know about it yet.”, 

“The only good thing I’m thankful for Gothel for. Your magi-” At these words, Alice silently turned over and sat upright again. Robin spluttered to a stop, her face sinking as realisation struck in the silence that followed. “Oh…”

One name. That’s all it took for the usual brightness in Alice’s eyes to fade and her heart to sink. She swallowed in her discomfort and Robin sat back up again. 

“Alice, I didn’t mean to…” Alice shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I just…” Her teeth clenched together, and when she next spoke, her words were raw and full of hurt, “I should be over what she did to us but-“

“You don’t have to apologise. It takes time.” She reached out a hand and squeezed Alice’s arm. “What your mother-”

“She’s not my mother.” Her words were tense. The dull ache in her chest reared its ugly head as the image of Gothel, stained into her nightmares, made its way to the surface of her mind. Her head down, she gazed out at her in that moment and time all but seemed to stop around them. Perhaps her pain was visible in her eyes, and by the look on Robin’s face that might not have been entirely unreasonable an assumption. 

“Your right. She’s not,” Robin leaned in closer to her, the gentleness in her eyes as apparent as they were on the day they’d first met. “We’ll defeat her, like we always do. And we will find a way, Alice. I promise, I’ll help you find a cure for him. We all will.” Alice had held on to that hope for so long, every day since he’d been cursed, like her life depended on it. Yet they were no closer to figuring anything out, not her, not her papa, not Robin or her mother, or aunt or anybody else. But her hope spurred her on, hoping, knowing, that one day she’d have her papa back. She attempted a small smile and lightly nodded her head. She wasn’t going to let it ruin their day, that was for sure.

* * *

By the time they’d exited the little thatched inn, after a short nap that seemed to have brightened up the two of them, the sun was already beginning to set. Robin barely had the chance to shut the door behind her before Alice took her hand in her own and darted along the street, in the opposite direction to the market and their boat trip on the lake.

“We kind of need to be setting off in the other direction, Al”

“Hang on, you need to see this”

Well, ok they still had some time to spare anyway. 

She brought them through into the outskirts of the village, through the underbrush and into a small opening between the trees overlooking the lake. Alice let go of Robin’s hand as they stumbled into the quiet clearing. Robin caught her breath. Alice, on the other hand, leapt at a nearby oak with surprising agility and hoisted herself up onto its lowest branch. Leaning against the tree, Robin joined Alice in watching the sun as it began to set beneath the horizon.

And the view? Spectacular. 

Robin hadn’t recalled a sunset like that in, well, forever. Maybe it was being with Alice, maybe it was her nerves or her excitement. Or maybe it really was that wonderful. Pinks and oranges splashed across the sky. If this is what she used for inspiration, which seemed likely judging by the similarities, it was no wonder Alice’s artwork was so picturesque. Its only downside was that it made her plan of watching the lanterns look practically boring.

“It’s beautiful”, Robin exclaimed, before suddenly a pair of legs swung over the branch above and landed on the grass a little to her left.

“Don’t,” – she shoved Alice lightly in the shoulder – “do that! Warn me next time, Tower Girl before you jump off places like Spider-man”

“Who?”

“Doesn’t matter. Hey, we really need to get down to the lake now”

Alice sighed, “Ok, then.” One arm behind her back, she motioned the other out to the side of her, in a gesture that indicated to Robin to lead the way.

* * *

Once they finally entered the side street containing the stall, having hastened Alice away from a cupcake stall apparently owned by one of her former criminal friends, Robin lifted her hands up to cover Alice’s eyes, guiding her to the little walkway where the young boy was picking up the last of the bags. She gave an apologetic smile as she passed his mother, who raised a single eyebrow at her before lowering and shaking her head as they walked on. 

“It’s not quite as spectacular as the sunset,” - she removed her hands away from Alice’s eyes - “but I thought it’d be good to have a decent view”

Alice turned her head, a small smile forming on her face as she asked, “Are we-?” An affirmative nod confirmed her thoughts. Her grin widened.

“I’ve never been on a boat before-”

Robin furrowed her eyebrows. “Really?” she asked, surprised, “The great Alice from Wonderland, who has fought Jabberwocks and Borogroves and travelled to more realms than I knew existed, hasn’t ever ridden on a boat before?” 

Alice nudged her in the side. “I haven’t done everything! Also they’re called Boro **goves** , and I think you’re confusing them for Bandersnatches. Borogoves are lovely!”

“Well, hopefully, you’re in for a treat.”

Before leaving and after a brief conversation with his mother, the boy turned to Robin, “Don’t be late bringing it back. Mum’ll not be happy if your late again,” – he seemed to ponder something then – “I thought adults were supposed to get better at remembering things”.

At this, she stuck her tongue out at him. He followed suit. Alice, on the other hand, kneeled down so she was at eye level with him and asked him in a friendly voice, “How do I say thank you to your mum?”.

He showed her how and Alice tried her best to copy the signal back before, at his encouragement, motioning the _“thank you”_ to his mother, who nodded at Alice and motioned for her son to come along. He yelled a “bye” to the two of them as he left them on the pier.

Alice’s attention fell back on the little, wooden row boat in front of her. Robin noticed her movement, probably spurred on by her excitement, before she had sufficient time or opportunity to stop her.

“Wait! Alice!”

Alice excitedly bounded into the boat, not bothering to care about anything as trivial as gravity or physics. As she lost her balance, she grabbed hold of Robin’s hand to try and steady herself, resulting in her merely pulling her with her as she fell, both of them landing in a heap at the bottom of the boat. Robin rubbed her temple as Alice started to snicker, until the two of them were howling with laughter. As they continued into hysterics, the young boy tapped his mother on the shoulder as they turned away from the two young women and continued to walk away from the small wooden pier, back through the streets of Corona to the crowd that would already have gathered in the square. His mother stopped and turned her head to face him as he asked her, 

_“Why are they laughing like that?”_. His mother glanced back towards the boat, sighing in deep longing, before turning back to her son. She smiled. 

_“They like each other.”_ The boy’s eyes widened.

_“What, like, like-like each other?!”_

She nodded. _“Now come on, enough of them. We don’t want to be late”_

* * *

The light of the moon reflected off the shimmer of the water as the boat glided along the lake. Alice kept leaning this way and that from the boat, much to Robin’s dismay, as she attempted to row it out into the middle. It was a little harder than she thought it would be and Alice wasn’t helping, though she actually wasn’t doing too bad a job of it all things considered.

She wrestled with the oars but, eventually, Robin managed to successfully manoeuvre the canoe so it was positioned just overlooking the main square, where a crowd of people could just about be seen in the darkness, each undoubtably holding their own lantern, ready to be released into the night sky.

“Shouldn’t be too long now. Hopefully!”, Alice stated, glee in her eyes. 

“Try not to fall in though. I checked and, well, I guess they don’t have anything like life jackets here.”

They fell quiet then, and as they waited, anticipation mounting, their hands subconsciously found themselves intertwined.

After a little while longer, the silence was broken by a sound that resembled something along the lines of an ecstatic squeal coming from Alice. “Ooo, look, look! I think they’ll be releasing them soon, look!”. Sure enough, the first faint glimmers of light had appeared among the crowd. Robin let go of Alice’s hand and twisted in her seat to reach behind her.

“Speaking of which I, uh… I thought we could release a couple ourselves,” she said, with an uncommonly nervous tone to her voice as she produced the two lanterns and held them in her outstretched hands. “This one’s mine,” she said, nodding her head towards the one in her left palm. Alice took the other lantern.

Were it possible to lean more against the side of the little boat without falling in, she undoubtedly would have done so, for Alice had enthusiastically positioned herself as such as much as was possible whilst also holding a lantern. Her eyes were gleaming with delight. Her hands were perched on the rim of the canoe. And the water was undisturbed as the dark of the night was broken by the arrival of the first lanterns.

The lights seemed to dance across the night sky, a slow yet mesmerising sequence of movements. A few hundred fireflies, illuminating the sky as they floated past the houses and the taverns and the other buildings of the town. They silently weaved out of the square, caught in the light breeze to circle the water. Robin took the lighter she carried out of her pocket and lit her own lantern, but was stopped from lighting the other by Alice. “Wait, I want to try something"

With one hand holding the lantern, she directed the other in front of it and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath through her nose and allowed her magic to flow through her. She concentrated. A gasp from Robin had her opening her eyes and, sure enough, a flame now lit the lantern.

“Ready?” Robin nodded, and the two gently released the lanterns into the night sky. They seemed to twirl around each other as they slowly ascended. Watching their own lanterns merge with the mass of the rest, Robin leaned against the side of the boat herself. Her left hand was gently placed on top of Alice’s as she did so and the two of them continued to watch as more and more lights lit up the night.

So enthralled by the view, Alice didn’t notice they were touching again until Robin took her weight back off the side of the canoe, shifting so she could see the lanterns starting to move around them. Eyes wet with unshed tears, she glanced down at Robin’s hand delicately placed over her own, a movement noticed by the archer. Somehow, she found herself twisting in her seat so they were now face to face and, hesitantly, Alice inched herself closer. Robin reached out, tentatively placing her hand on Alice’s cheek. Her gentle touch radiated a warmth that seemed to diffuse through her entire being. Her own hand shook with the cold. Or nerves. Or perhaps both. They were close now. She could feel the soft heat of Robin’s breath on her skin, her face half cast in shadow by the light of the lanterns. 

Grabbing Robin’s shoulder, she leaned forward and finally closed the gap between them, their lips pressed together in an instant. As Robin leaned in, she felt herself relax. She grasped at Robin’s upper arm with her free hand, the one not currently tangled in Robin’s own. A calmness fell on the two lovers, the night air silent in their presence, the onlooking stars their witness. To Alice, the entire universe seemed to sigh in relief.

For the briefest of instances, the pressure of Alice’s lips on her own had merely evoked disbelief in Robin. Once realisation had hit, Robin had leaned into the kiss, embracing every moment. All her nerves, the doubts, every single time she’d hidden her silent displeasure at her peers’ mocking of others in school, the jeering, the subtle disgust, the distrust of people like her, fell away. For a moment, none of it mattered. Each second seemed to exist as a lifetime, and yet also no time at all. 

After what might have been minutes, hours, days for all Robin knew, she pulled back, her eyes falling on those of the blushing blonde in front of her.

“I didn’t know whether you felt the same way,” she gasped out, her voice shaky. The words seemed to reverberate in Robin’s mind. Echoes of her own worries.

All that time wondering, and she’d been having the same dilemma. 

Robin uncupped her hand from her cheek and stroked a finger down till it was resting under her chin. “Yeah, I-I do, Al, yeah.”

The smile that was painted on Alice’s face at hearing those words lifted Robin’s heart more than any sunset or lantern ever could. “Really?”

“Yes”

There was a small pause before Alice continued on. “I left that tower, and it was scary and wonderful and bonkers! But with papa gone I…” her words caught in her chest, “I’m glad I have you, in whatever way that might be”

They stayed like that for a few moments, still partially unsure of how to process the understanding that had just passed between the two of them.

“So…what do you say? Want to give it a try, Tower Girl?”

Alice stared into Robin’s expectant eyes, and slowly nodded, “Yeah”

Their foreheads meeting to rest against the other, their hands entwined together, neither truly knew what was to occur in the years to come. But in this moment, at least, they had each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm not deaf or hard of hearing myself, so if there's anything that I could have done better regarding it, please feel free to tell me. I intend on including both casual rep, like this, as well as representation that's more central to the story going forward.
> 
> I've got two stories I want to work on next, one of which I'm really excited about getting started on. The other I intend on releasing in February should be shorter.


End file.
